Study Finds Parents Do Not Encourage Careers in Creative Industries

According to a new study, parents do not encourage their children to pursue careers in the creative industries due to financial concerns.

The research, which was conducted on behalf of visual effects academy Escape Studios, surveyed 500 parents and 500 students aged between 16 and 25.

They found that 71% of students wanted to work in creative industries but 63% of those surveyed felt pressured to select a different career path to please their parents.

In fact, 43% of parents were likely to pressure their children into choosing “traditional” career paths like accounting or engineering as they are seen as more financially sound.

However, their worries may be unfounded. According to recent research, an estimated 1.2 million creative workers will be needed in the UK by 2022.

Despite this fact, 33% of the students said they did not have a good understanding of the careers available, while 41% said they did not receive adequate careers advice.

Dr Ian Palmer, director of Escape Studios said, “The creative industries continue to grow at a substantial rate; despite this, not enough students are aware of the opportunities available to them within the sector. However, we are thrilled to see that such a high percentage of UK students are showing an interest in creative careers.

“To support the continuing success of the UK’s creative industries, we need to take a bottom-up approach to nurture future talent. We can do this by creating an environment to inform students and their parents of the career opportunities in the creative sector and provide more support for careers advisor.”